Don't we get justice?
"If we don't wake up, how will it be in the morning" - this was the slogan of the 12th National Conference of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi. On the last day of the three-day national conference held on March 4, 5 and 6, 1999 at the historic Town Hall ground in Jessore, the cultural arena of Bangladesh came under a terrible attack. On this day, the radical group bombed the Udichi conference and killed 10 people. The bombing of Udichi marked the beginning of the horrific bombardment of militancy in Bangladesh.
The Eleventh National Conference of Udichi was held in Dhaka. At that time the first district selection from the organizational point of view started. Jessore district was selected as the best district on the basis of organizational merit. Jessore district was entrusted with the responsibility of the 12th National Conference. The first conference of the service was held outside Dhaka. About 1,500 cultural activists from all over Bangladesh and Udichi's brothers and sisters attended the delegates' conference held in Jessore district. This conference became a wonderful gathering of cultural workers. The cultural program was going on on March 7. Several other cultural groups, including Sharabhuj, a cultural organization from Medinipur, India, were performing on the stage. DM Shahiduzzaman, then General Secretary of Jessore District Parliament of Bangladesh Udichi Shilpigosthi was presenting the program. Shahid Bhai is no more with us today.
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Just then two powerful bombs exploded at the venue. Ten cultural activists of Udichi lost their lives and more than two hundred were injured. The deceased have been identified as Nur Islam, Nazmul Huda Tapan, Sandhya Rani Ghosh, Ilyas Munshi, Shah Alam Babul, Bulu, Ratan Roy, Babul Sutradhar, Shah Alam and Ramkrishna.
22 years have passed since this brutal attack. These 22 years are 22 years of impunity, 22 years of carrying the scars of brutal attacks by militant, fundamentalist groups, 22 years of losing 10 cultural activists and comrades-in-arms. For the past 22 years, Udichi's brothers and sisters have been demanding justice for this atrocity. No trial has taken place but the country's progressive cultural and political parties, including Udichi, have been repeatedly attacked. We do not know why this murder case is not being tried. Despite repeated demands to the government and its administration for this trial, Udichi is not getting any remedy.
After this horrific attack, various cultural, political and social organizations across the country have come to Udichi's side. The attack was not just an attack on Udichi, it was a vicious attack on the progressive cultural and political movement in Bangladesh. So just as we lost our cultural comrades-in-arms, so did progressive organizations across the country unite to protest the attack. Everyone was vocal in their protest against this heinous murder. Even today we are marching in the streets demanding justice, the injured are waiting for justice with signs of injuries.
At the twelfth conference of Udichi, playwright Syed Hasan Imam and folk musician Mahmud Selim were re-elected as president and general secretary respectively. Brothers and sisters from all over Bangladesh, under the leadership of the then President and General Secretary of Udichi, started working together for the rescue and medical treatment of the injured in the bombing. Udichi is not just an organization for us; This is one of our family. Udichi's artists and workers from all over Bangladesh worked side by side then. This is the strength of an organization.
The next day, the seriously injured were airlifted from Jessore to Khulna and Dhaka for treatment. Udichi has taken all the responsibility of the families of the 10 killed. Of the 10 people killed, five were members of the Udichi family and the remaining five were spectators. The then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina deposited Rs 50,000 in the name of the families of each of the victims at the post office. Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi, under the leadership of the then president and general secretary, has carried out all the responsibilities from arranging jobs to those whose family members are fit for the job, selling them to someone, buying a rickshaw or a van.
Udichi Shilpi Gosthi has also taken initiative to install artificial limbs of those who have been mutilated. Four of the injured lost their legs. Udichi took the initiative to add artificial legs to these four people. The then President Syed Hassan Imam collected money from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund and brought an artificial leg from Germany and completed the work of adding it to the Combined Military Hospital. After the implantation of the prosthetic leg, the siblings of Udichi were trained to walk in a concerted effort and were sent home after recovering. Just as Udichi has been campaigning for justice for the Jessore massacre for these 22 years, Udichi still stands by the victims of the bombing with his humanitarian ideals. The catastrophe that befell the organization that day, we were ultimately injured but not broken. Because, ‘Satyen Ranesh's footprints’ have taught us how to deal with even the worst of disasters with comrades-in-arms.